Connie Mack video response to Nelson ad: Senator's a "typical career politician wants to talk about Hooters and what I did as a kid."

Sen. Bill Nelson's first negative ad against Rep. Connie Mack sure hit a nerve, and it provoked an interesting response: a web-ad rebuttal from the Republican. Conventional campaign wisdom says you shouldn't repeat an opponent's attack. But Mack does a solid job looking serious, sober and tough, thereby trying to judo Nelson to make him like the frivolous one talking about the past instead of the future.

It all makes for a great Senate race in which we'll actually see the candidates (gasp!) debate issues. A caveat: he says Nelson case "the" deciding vote on ObamaCare. That's a tough eye-of-the-beholder argument to make, though it's not necessarily false.

An intriguing aside, this video rebuttal from one candidate to another could soon be a trend. Mack's Republican senate opponent, former Rep. Dave Weldon, released a web ad in which he 'debates' Mack, who wouldn't debate the little-known rival before the Aug. 14 primary. It's not without precedent. Mack's dad and namesake, Connie Mack III, didn't debate his GOP rivals on his way to a U.S. Senate win in 1988, when Republican opponent Bob Merkle traveled around with a cardboard copy of Mack as a mock-mute debate stand-in."

Here's the ad:

The Script:

"Sad, 40 years in politics and this is what Bill Nelson wants to talk about. Even if it were all true, and it's not, who cares."

“After all, Bill Nelson and I are candidates for the United States Senate and their are real differences between us.

“Bill Nelson cast the deciding vote for ObamaCare and voted to raise our taxes 150 times- I voted to against ObamaCare and to cut taxes.

“I want to talk about what really matters- fixing our economy, creating jobs and tackling our deficit. Bill Nelson, like a typical career politician, wants to talk about Hooters and what I did as a kid. “Lets get serious: Our country is in crisis. It’s time to debate the issues that matter, not this nonsense”.